//------------------------------//
// Night 1 
// Story: Five Nights at Pinkie's 
// by Gear Spring 
//------------------------------//

A soft blue light encompasses the steel of a wrench.  It floats from the toolbox, hovering across a crowded workshop before hovering just above the ground hear a lug nut.  A grayish unicorn snatches the tool out of the air, gently gripping it in his teeth as he starts to tighten the nut around the bolt.  Giving it a few turns, the unicorn sets the tool down and walks away.  Taking a few steps, he turns and looks upwards.

Gear Spring stands in the large warehouse of his workshop.  Joining him is a mechanical device with whirling blades hanging above.  Jetting from the back of the machine is another set of propellers that appear to be able to swivel from side-to-side.  It looks as though it would be worn like a saddle, but it is propped up on a steel frame that takes the place of a pony.  Wires latched to the device run to a big red button that is sitting on a pedestal beside the stallion.

“Okay,” he says to only himself.  “Let’s see if this is going to work.”

He presses the button, and a few sparks shoot from the device.  Watching closely, he sees that the blades begin to whirl slowly, before picking up speed.  It whirls around, the blades blending into one circle, blowing wind.  A smile reaches his face as it lifts off the ground.

But then, there are more sparks that explode from the device.  The spinning blades stop and the metal device comes crashing down in a heap of twisted metal.  Gear Spring sighs as he walks over to the wreckage.

“Some of it I can salvage,” he looks around.  “But I have to go into Ponyville for some more parts.”

Letting out a sigh, he trots away from the disaster area, and over to a work bench.  Among the tools scattered about the table, there is a glass jar with a hoof-full of bits.  Looking into the jar, a frown reaches his face.

“Awe man,” he puts his head on the table, “This isn’t even enough for lunch.”

His horn glows the same blue as before as he floats over a newspaper to be laid out before him.  Flipping past an article about the newest fashion from Rarity Boutique, he finds a page filled with odd jobs to be done around Ponyville.

“Well, let’s see what is out there,” Gear Spring looks over it.  “Oh, what’s this?”

Local pizzeria in need of a security guard to work the night shift between the midnight moon to the rising sun.  Monitor cameras, ensure safety of equipment and animatronic characters.  Not responsible for injury or dismemberment.

“Dismemberment?” he pulls his head off of bench.  “What kind of job—oh wait I remember this place.  I did some repair work on their animatronics.  I cannot believe that they’re still up and running.”

He pauses, musing it over.

“Well, it is one hundred twenty bits for the week.  I guess I can try it out.  I’ll give them a call.”


A low hum comes from the ceiling light hanging above his head.  The light flickers on and off, creating a sharp buzz when it comes back to life.  Gear Spring walks up to the desk in the office, finding it littered monitors, although a few of them barely appear plugged in.  The one that is wired to the socket is a small screened piece of equipment.  Hanging on the walls are pictures left by the little fillies of their adventures at the pizzeria.  Looking up at the one corner, he spies a cobweb with dust clinging to the sticky silk.

“Well, this is drearier than I remember,” he says, pushing some of the papers aside.  “Remember this is for the bits.  Just got to do it for the bits.”

Over the hum of the light, he hears a slight beeping sound.  A clock hangs on the wall by the monitors.  In a digital red, he reads that the midnight moon is hanging in the sky.

“Well that is the start of my shift,” he says.

Trotting closer to the desk, he presses the button on the monitor, and an image flashes across the screen, but static distorts it for a moment.  The camera aims at the stage, where three mechanical ponies stand motionless before an abandoned crowd of chairs.  Gear Spring looks to the one of the stage, the orange earth pony with a cowboy hat concealing her face.  Over to the far right is the yellow Pegasus with a bib about her neck.  Lastly in the middle is the mascot to the establishment with her puffy pink hair.

“Well the gang is all here,” he muses to himself.  “This is going to be quite—”

The ringing phone cuts off his sentence.  Illuminating his hoof, he picks up the phone with magic and presses it up to his ear.

“Hello?” he asks.

“Hello.”

“Yes, hello,” he tries to picture the pony behind the voice.  “Twilight, is that you?”

“Uh, I wanted to record you a message to help you get settled in on your first night.  Um, I actually worked in that office before you.  I’ll be finishing my last week now, as a matter of fact.”

“Nope, not Twilight,” he chuckles.

“So,” the voice continues, “I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I’m here to tell you there’s nothing to worry about.  Uh, you’ll do fine.  So let’s just focus on getting you through the week.  Okay?

So let’s do the introductory greeting from the company that I’m supposed to read.  Uh, it’s kind of a legal thing.  Um, Welcome to Pinkie’s Pizzeria.  A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and magic come to life.  Pinkie Party Company is not responsible for damaged property or pony.  Upon discovering that damage of death has occurred, a missing pony report will be filed within ninety days, or as soon property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced.

Blah-blah-blah, now that might sound bad, I know, but there’s really nothing to worry about.  Uh, the animatronics ponies can be a bit quirky at night, but do I blame them?  No.  If I was forced to sing that same song for that many moons, I’d probably be a bit irritable at night.

Just to be aware, the ponies tend to wander a bit at night…”

“What?” Gear Spring gasps.  He looks to the camera, but they are still on the stage.

The call carries on, “They get left in some sort of free roaming mode.  Its…something about their servos locking up if they get turned off for too long.  Uh, they used to be allowed to move around during the day, but then there was the clop of eight-seven.  It, it is quite amazing a pony can live without the frontal lobe.

Now, regarding your safety.  If any of these animatronics happens to see you after hours, they probably won’t recognize you as a pony.  They’ll most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without a costume.  Since that’s against the rules, they’ll probably try to, um, forcefully stuff you into a Pinkie Pie suit.  Now, you see, that wouldn’t be so bad, except the suit is filled with crossbeams, wires, and other devices.  So, you could imagine that having your head forcefully pressed inside one of those could cause a bit of discomfort…and death.  Yeah, they really don’t tell you those things when you sign up.  But, hey, listen, it’s your first day so it’ll be a breeze.  Uh, also make sure to check the cameras, and remember to close the doors only if necessary.  Got to conserve power.”

The call ends, and Gear Spring is left with his mouth hanging open.  He looks over to the camera monitor and finds that there are two less animatronics standing on stage.

“No-no-no, where did Apple Jack and Fluttershy go?”

Frantically, his hoof mashes the button, jumping between the different cameras littered throughout the restaurant.  Each image, he finds the room completely empty.  The last time he hits the button, he is met with a static picture.

“Damn, the camera’s dead,” he says.

Just as he is about to change the camera, a queer sound reaches his ear.  Metal clanging of pots and pans echo in the kitchen area, followed by the mechanical whirling of servos.

“Well, at least one of them is in the kitchen,” he finds some relief, “But where is the other one.”

Then, he hears a low wheezing breath in his ear.  Looking to the door, he hits the light, and jumps.  Standing at the entrance to his office is one of the animatronics.  The orange sheen of its steely coat has stain marks of aging rust.  Dark circles encompass the eye sockets, which are filled with a soulless emerald gaze.  She opens her mouth slightly, showing a set of teeth and a series of wires and gears down in her gullet.

“Oh shit!” Gear Spring leaps for the door switch.

He hits the button before the animatronic makes it into the office.  From the ceiling a giant metal door comes slamming down in front of Apple Jack before she attempts to enter.  On the other side, Gear Spring hears the banging on the door.  It causes him to shudder, but when it finally stops he sees Apple Jack walk over to the window, her haunting gaze fixated on him.

“I am not dealing with this,” he says, walking to the other door.  

Gear Spring walks away from the window and the prying eyes of the animatronic.  Over to the other switch, he presses the button and watches as the door slams shut with a metallic clang that reverberates through the hallway outside.  Turning on the light, the outdoor light flashes a white glow, but that hallway is empty.  Looking over to the other window, he sees that the other animatronic is also gone.

“This is the worst” he sighs, walking back to the desk.  “I didn’t realize these robots were so murderous.”

He yawns and puts his head on the desk, and starts to feel drowsy.  Looking at the clock, he sees that it is only two hours before Celestia raises the sun.  Then, there is a deadening low growl somewhere in the restaurant as his office turns black.

“No-no-no,” he looks at the blank monitors.  “Did I blow a fuse?”

Sitting there in the dark, he is completely blinded, so black that he cannot see the hoof in front of his face.  In the abyss, he picks up a sound.  The mechanical whirling of servos driving a body toward him.  A light appears in the window, an animatronic letting off a soft glow through its eye sockets.  He sees the puffy pink mane in the window.  Soulless eyes look in, and a smile spreads across her face, which causes a chill to run down his spine.  Pinkie Pie disappears behind the door.  He hears her hooves banging against the metal frame.  Then, the door starts to groan when the machine starts to lift it up.  

Gear Spring backs up against the other door as a merry song plays through the speakers in her mouth.  It drones on like a death march, as his heart beats faster.

“He-hey-hey there,” Pinkie Pie says, her head violently twitching as she speaks.  “We-We-Welcome to P-P-Pinkie’s Pizzeria.  Ponies n-n-need to be in costume.  T-T-That’s-That’s the rules.”

So you’re going to die…

Pinkie Pie lunges at him, but Gear Spring manages to jump away as the mechanical mascot smashes into the door.  Trapped in the dark, he makes a run for it.  Down the hall, he is blinded until he illuminates his horn.  A faint blue light showers the restaurant, granting him limited visibility.  Yet he runs straight for the exit.  Just as he is about to reach the entrance, he stops dead as he spies the yellow Pegasus blocking his way.  Her eyes are alight, her metal mouth seems to be drooling some sort of red mucus that drips down, staining her bib that reads “YAY”.

“Come on,” Fluttershy head tilts to the side as her mechanical mouth shifts into a grin.  “Let’s eat.”

Let’s eat you…

Gear Spring turns around and starts to run, but Pinkie Pie is close behind him.  He looks another way, but Apple Jack is approaching from that way too.  The animatronic girls have maddening looks in their empty eyes.  Sweat rolls down his mane as he runs deeper into the restaurant.  Running around a corner, he stops when he is stuck at a dead end.  Mechanical hoof prints make him turn as the three march closer.  A sickening groan slips through their speakers, sounding all too real like the dying moans of fillies.

“No,” he backs up against the wall.  “Get away from me…”

Pressing his back against the wall, he hears a creak of wood.  Before he can look back, he is falling through a hole in the wall.  Dust flies around him as he slowly looks up.  The glowing eyes of the animatronics shine on him, but he realizes that they are not approaching.  Rather they are staring at the wall, unsure where he is.

“What’s going on?” he gets up slowly.

Stepping up to them, he waves a hoof in front of their eyes.  They do not seem to see him.

“Oh thank Celestia,” he sighs with relief.  “I must be out of the bounds of their navigation software.”

Looking into the room that he has fallen in, he looks at it curiously.

“Although where am I?”

Wondering in, he sees that it is covered in a thick layer of dust.  Drapes hang over a lot of the equipment in the room.  Looking back to make sure the animatronics are not pursing him, he takes the time to investigate it.  Standing in the center of the room is a desk covered in gray.  Among the dust bunnies, he sees a little lump that protrudes from the desk.  Taking in a deep breath, he blows away the dust, unveiling a book sitting alone.  The leather bound tome has a purplish hue.  A lock keeps its pages clasped tightly.

“Must be someone’s diary,” he looks at it curiously.

Help us…

He looks around when he hears the voice, but there is no pony or animatronic around.  When he walks up to the diary, he picks it up with a spell.  He attempts to open it, but no spells he knows works.

“I’ll need some tools…”

So he waits there, until the sun rises.  Looking out the animatronics are gone.  Wondering through the restaurant he finds the trio back on stage, as if nothing happened.  Without a word, he walks out of the restaurant.